Trust is just a Five-Letter Word

by Child of Fire

Disclaimer: Don’t own this or any other anime.

A/N: Sorry this took so long, but then again, this is a very long chapter. (Kinda boring too…but important.) In this chapter, I finally include the Ingrid and the Gundam pilots! Hurray!

Chapter Nine: The Arrival of the STRIKERS…Hiead vs. Ikhny!

When you look at Tak’s room, you would hardly see anything out of the ordinary. His chambers consisted of an ordinary bed, an ordinary desk, and ordinary computer, and an ordinary closet. The only thing strange in the room was a small number of healthy looking plants and a very large mirror.

The door burst open and Tak himself entered, carrying an unconscious Reiko in his arms. He quickly locked the door and lay her on the bed. For a while, he stared at the sleeping form of his sister.

You could have been something, he thought as he pushed a strand of hair away from Reiko’s face. You could have been a top spy for Master Chaos himself! But you had to take the path of a fool…

Tak shook his head. There was no time to dwell on this, for the sleep spell would wear off soon. Not wanting to waste any more time, he grabbed some rope and slipped a loop of rope over one of her hands and back, pulling it tight against her wrist. He leaned over her and repeated this performance with her other wrist and her ankles. Finally, he tied them together tightly. But something was eating away at him…he couldn’t quite explain the feeling, but there was no time to think. He reached into his pocket and found a black bandanna, with the words, "I love Chaos" flashing everywhere. He gagged Reiko with it, and her carried her still form into his closet. As he locked it, he smirked.

"Let’s see you get out of this one, sweetheart."

Laughing cruelly, he left the room and went out into the hall, where the copy Reiko and the dazed Ikhny stood waiting. Smirking to himself, he leaned towards Ikhny and whispered the release spell into her ear.

"Chaos."

Ikhny snapped out of her daze and looked around her. "Tak? What the…what’s going on? Why am I here?"

Tak feigned a look of surprise. "Don’t you remember Ikhny? I told you to meet me here so we can go to class together."

"And why should I believe you if I don’t believe it myself? And what’s Reina doing here anyway?" Ikhny jerked her head in copy Reiko direction. Tak gave her a small smile.

"I have to talk to Miss Reina for a moment. She has some questions to ask me about the wonders of repairing a Pro-Ing. This will only take a moment. Why don’t you go to class first? I’ll catch up."

Ikhny narrowed her eyes slightly at Tak, but she didn’t say anything. She turned on her heel and headed off towards class. Tak’s smile vanished the moment she was out of sight and it was replaced by an ugly look.

"She’s becoming too powerful," he muttered to himself. "If this keeps up, she’ll be able to resist the planting. I’d better get rid of her inspiration fast." Tak turned to the copy Reiko. "Go to the hanger. You’ll find a Pro-Ing with the number eighty-seven on it. Go have some fun with it."

The copy Reiko nodded, and walked off towards the hanger.

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"Clay, look to your left! No! The other left! Clay, NO!"

Saki watched in disbelief as candidate ninety blasted her partner to oblivion. As she listened to Clay scream, she growled and pounded her fist against the console.

Azuma watched Saki shake with anger and he shook his head as Clay came out of the simulation, trembling. Normally he’d chastise eighty-nine for being a coward in battle, but he did last five minutes in battle this time. It was a definite improvement. Unfortunately, Saki didn’t agree with him.

"Clay, you idiot! How could you lose to a rookie? You’re more experienced than him You’re supposed to have the advantage! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"S-saki…"

"Don’t talk back! Now why do you keep running away, huh? Huh? Answer me dammit!!"

Ignoring the screaming that was coming behind him, Azuma checked the list to see who was up next.

Oh goddess, anyone but these two.

At this point, Azuma wondered if there really was a hell. The next two names on the list were Hiead Gner… and Ikhny Allecto. Could the day get any worse?

"Hey, old man! Am I up yet?"

Yes it could. Candidate eighty-eight stood behind him, smiling idiotically. What he wouldn’t give for a joint right about now…

"You’re not up yet, eighty-eight. Next up is eighty-seven and ninety-two."

Zero frowned, but Kizna, who had arrived in time to hear the next match up, gasped.

"Hiead and Ikhny? You can’t, sir! Anyone but those two!"

Azuma was about to say that this was none of her business when Tak and Ikhny arrived.

"Are we late sir?" Tak asked cheerfully. "Is it our turn yet?" Ikhny said nothing. Azuma couldn’t even look into her eyes. The look in them made his heart freeze up.

"Go get ready," Azuma snapped. "You’re up against eighty-seven." Was it his imagination, or did Tak just smirk? When Azuma blinked, the smirk changed into one of Tak’s regular smiles.

"Well Ikhny," Tak said, "this should be interesting, no? Old partners now having to fight against one another. Now we’ll truly see who’s the best, right?"

Ikhny turned her cold gaze towards Tak. "We will see…if you don’t mess up this time." Ikhny looked away. "Imbecile."

Tak’s smile remained in place. "Isn’t she a funny one! Come on Ikhny!" He took her by the hand and pulled her towards the hanger.

Zero and Kizna gaped at Ikhny as she left. "Is it just me," Zero asked, "or did Ikhny’s personality get worse since the last time we saw her?" Kizna couldn’t do anything except nod her head.

At this point, Hiead arrived, dragging Reina in by the wrist. He looked seriously pissed off, but no one said anything about it. Instead, Azuma asked, "Why are you late, eighty-seven?"

Hiead growled, and jerked his head in Reina’s direction. "She was at the hanger…and she didn’t want to leave."

Azuma slapped his hand against his forehead. What kind of excuse was that? That’s no reason for Hiead to be so mad…he seriously need that joint…

"Hey Hiead," Zero asked, "did you see Tak and Ikhny on your way here? I mean, you two were coming from the hanger and they were going to the hanger, so…"

Hiead’s expression turned even more ferocious, and Azuma got his answer.

"If you all had your fill of gossip," Azuma interrupted, "I believe that class is in session. Eighty-seven, you’re up against ninety-two. Go get ready. Now!"

Hiead’s face turned into a look of surprise, but Reina grabbed him but his collar and dragged him back towards the hanger with ease.

Azuma chortled to himself. This was going to get very intense…
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At first, Reiko thought she was dead. It was pitch black, she couldn’t move, and she had difficulty breathing. Then she realized she was gagged, bound with rope, and in a dark, enclosed area.

Reiko wriggled around until she could feel her boots. She slipped her hand in there, with difficulty, and pulled out a small knife. She then began to cut off the think ropes.

Reiko cursed through the gag and continued to cut. She had to keep trying…she had to.

______________________________________________________________________________________

"Ikhny, I observed Hiead’s battle style, and-"

"Shut up, Tak. I know how Hiead fights."

Tak frowned. Ikhny was getting more and more out of line. Maybe it had been a mistake to tweak the line up. No. This had to be done. Tak turned his gaze to "Reina", who was sitting quietly at her console. He smirked. If his little copy had obeyed him, Ikhny wouldn’t even have to tap into her powers.

"Hey, Tak! A little help would be nice!"

Tak quickly turned his attention to the battle, where Ikhny was busy dodging all of Hiead’s blasts.

"Ikhny, regroup and turn to the offensive!" Tak yelled. Ikhny’s Pro-Ing quickly pulled out the gun and began to shoot mercilessly at Hiead, who now had to switch to the defensive. He flew to higher ground where he had a clear shot at Ikhny. He pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. He had no more ammunition!

"Reina!" He yelled. "Did you refill the ammunition?"

"A-ammunition? I was suppose to fill it up?"

"Damn you!" Hiead cursed, and he flew back just as Ikhny sped towards him. Hiead quickly pulled out his sword and knocked the gun out of Ikhny’s hands. No one saw the crack in the blade.

Ikhny growled as she pulled out her own sword. She flew at him in rage, but Hiead blocked her blade. He underestimated the force of her blow though, and he had to step back to keep his balance. The crack in his blade grew, and it broke off completely. Now he was completely defenseless.

Ikhny gave him a sweet smile. "No one to save you here…" She raised her sword to strike when the alarm rang.

______________________________________________________________________________________

"Erts, where are they?"

"They’re coming from the south…and there’s a lot of them. It’s the largest group we’ve had to face."

The five Ingrids sped off towards the VICTIMS. Lately, the attacks had become more frequent, and from the looks of it, it seemed that as the pilots grew weaker, the VICTIMS grew stronger, and more deadly with each battle.

But there was no time to think about that now. The VICTIMS were approaching with breathtaking speed, and the goddesses prepared for battle. But before they could strike, something slammed all of them from behind. Gareas looked around angrily.

"Where the hell are they? Erts! Can’t you detect them?"

"I’m trying…" Erts tried to find the attackers, but before he could get a lock on their location, something slammed into him again, this time with much more force. And then, the VICTIMS arrived.

"Dammit!" Rio yelled as he tried to stop the onslaught, but something rammed into him again, and his shields fell completely.

Teela then used her weapons and managed to destroy several VICTIMS…and something else. It looked like a smaller than the VICTIM, but it looked twice as deadly. It flickered for a moment, then it disappeared.

"Damn! How can we fight something we can’t detect?!" Gareas yelled as he shot in every direction. The VICTIMS were killed, but the smaller creatures just flickered, and disappeared from view again. "Damn!"

Yu was also having a tough time. His blades managed to keep the new creatures off temporarily, but they always came back. It seemed hopeless.

Erts was having the hardest time. He could barely defend himself! He was getting rammed again and again. He was going to die, just like his brother…

Then a laser sword appeared, and sliced one of the small creatures in half. Erts looked around, and he saw…a new white and red Ingrid. It pulled the sword back flew off towards Teela.

Three more of the new Ingrids appeared, each more impressive than the last. They seemed to know where the invisible creatures were, and they shot them all with pinpoint accuracy. The numbers dwindled, and finally, the last of the VICTIMS retreated. But the goddess pilots were very, very confused.

"Who the hell are you?" Gareas yelled. "And how is it that you have Ingrids?"

A rough, angry voice answered him. "We are the Gundam pilots of Zion. And they’re Gundams, not Ingrids, you young idiot!"

End of a long awaited chapter nine.